Villa Langsat: I built this house outside Kuala Lumpur. My father designed it for me.
I planted 100 plants in the garden and stocked the fountain with tropical fish.
(This is the same fountain an Indonesian workman washed his latex paint brushes in, thinking it'd somehow just go away.)
A tiny blue kingfisher took just an hour of diving to clear out the pond of all swimming things. An afternoon of expensive sushi for the little bird with the oversize orange beak.
It was supposed to take 3 months to complete. That was before the contractor saw the plans. Construction lasted for 2 years.
It's all slate inside, stays cool in the equatorial heat. Cool! Not cool: the roof leaked for the first 7 months.